is this the end of my cooling dilema?
Some of you will remember my cooling related problems under extreme load, specially during my trip to-and from Cyprus in 2005. To summarise it, I had replaced the belt driven fan with a 16" Pacet thinline fan for economy and quieter operation. (air flow 2904 cubic meters/hour)
I did benefit from less noise, more power and more economy from the engine, but under really extreme situations, which involved climbing up mountain roads under heavy load/boat on a trailer etc. the fan just couldnot cope. Other wise load or no load it is working fine. Now to adress the problem I have decided to use a water wetter when I am travelling, but I am not sure about the outcome yet so I have decided to install extra Pacets from outside of the radiator as extra cooling aids.
1.I removed the already installed 11" ordinary aircon fan and replaced it with a 11" Pacet profan blower fan (airflow 2110 cubicmetres/hour)
2. I installed a 12" Pacet High profile profan blower ( airflow 4009 cubicmetres /hour).It was a tight fit and involved some panel cutting/modifying
Both of the above fans can be switched on manually from a switch on the dash when necessary as an extra cooling power. Also the 11" comes on automatically with the aircon.
I think I have at least doubled my cooling capacity (I have a recon radiator on as well), which should really solve my overheating problems
The final result of the installation looks good. And trials so far indicates no power loss from the engine even with all 3 fans working together. But as i said I should only be firing the extra fans for extreme situation which doesnot happen too often.
Also, another advantage is I am able to cool the oil cooler as well with the extra fans and if Global Warming carries on like this, might even use the 12"PAcet for efficient airconditioning operation. And to do my bit against Global Warming I am using LPG as fuel.
Anyone who wants to do this conversion can also use Pacet 16" thinline profan (airflow 3999cubicmetres/hour) . which is more powerfull than the one I am using. Unfortunately I didnot know it back in 2005.
Can anyone tell me what is the airflow rating of the standart belt driven fans?
Hi shakir, I have used water wetter in my G560, and it has made a difference.
Hi Ian, thats very good to know.
that means you had cooling issues as well.
Have you used the RED LINE product?
If not what do you recommend?
cant remember, but im guessing a new re-core and the twin leccys, you should now be a COOL dude.
I have been trying the auxilary front fan (only the 12") in heavy traffic without the internal fan working and it looks promising. when they both work simultaneously it is real Cool and the extra 11" has not been used yet! That 12" fan is a killer.
i think you have another fan job on your hands shakir :wink:
Ok, I am going to get the electric fan conversion done, any fuel saving at all and I will have made my money back in no time. :)
Is there space for 2 12 inch kenlow fans under the front grill (yes I want them to push not pull) or would I be better off with 2 11" fans?
There is the option of a single 16/17" pull fan inside the engine bay, but I think having 2 fans would be safer than one point of failure.
280 GES without aircon.
what do you think?
sorry its a LR site, but this place seems to sell all the right bits.
http://www.famousfour.com/acatalog/Kenlowe_Order.html
you cannot use a kenlowe inside too thick.
why kenlowe anyway? I have been working with Pacets and they offer better fitting.If you read the first posting carefully all your questions will be answered.
I'm in the process of installing the 17" Kenlowe fan between the radiator and engine.
The fan is supplied with an attachment kit to the radiator which consists of 4 strips of very strong plastic that go through the radiator cooling fins and are secured at the back. Something like tie straps. Click on the following link and scroll down to "Mountings" heading to see how it goes.
http://www.kenlowe.co.uk/fans/consumers/fans05.html
We all know that the 460 radiator has vertical water channels. Therefore the plastic strips will sit on the radiator fins. My concern is whether the radiator fins will take-on the weight of the fan and regular off-road use.
Can anyone share his experience/knowledge ??
Thanks !
I held twin 12" on with nylon zip ties on my old 280 and that had alot of abuse off road, no problems whatsoever
hiya (280GE 1987)
I just fitted 2 12" fans between the grill and the rad this weekend.
I used the pacet zip tie mounts, no problems at all. they are round and slot straight through the fins, no problem.
The core on my rad is solid, but the fins were a bit weak in places, still I had no problem slotting them through and they sit on rubber bushes either side of the rad so they are resting on the fins, but not vibrating directly against them.
I had major trouble getting the fan off the water pump housing, the four 10 mm bolts holding it on were almost impossible to get at. They were well stuck in and I found trying to us the U end of the spanner was stripping the bolt heads, I had to grind down one side of the O end of the spaner to get it to fit over the heads next to the fan spindle. This worked ok for three out of four bolts, but the last one was completely siezed.
I stripped the bolt head completely and ended up using a reciprocating saw to cut the bolt head off, and then used a file to grind down the remaining metal till the fan came off. (took almost 5 hours to get them all free).
I also removed the plastic fan shroud from the back of the rad, which makes the bay look a lot cleaner.
I used a 38mm revotec inline thermostat in the top hose. but I am already struggling to maintain a steady engine temp. Possibly one of the 22mm bolt type sensors would give a more steady steady temp and use the fans less, (this is assuming it will fit in the spare bolt hole to the water jacket over the exhaust manifold.)
I need to tidy up the electrics now, as it doesnt look too pretty with cable strung all over the engine bay, and make sure you fit a manual over ride on he dash, so you can turn on the fans manually if the thermostat fails. I trust the fans, but having 2 instead of one means I should be able to limp home even if one fails. looks good too
Are you planning to wire the fans to an ignition switched 12 volts? or straight to the battery? I have wired it straight to the battery, but the fans run on after I have parked, which may flatten the battery when I am not looking. trying to get to a switched 12V is not as easy as I had hoped, any advice on where to connect to a switched +12V to would be gratefuly received.
Regards
James
Running my 560 V8, my engine is always going to get hot very quickly, I opted not to have an inline thermosat that gives you only one temp for the fans to click in. Normal working temp for my 560 is about 90deg so my fans would come on more than needed so I went for a variable thermosat that Scorpion racing sell, It clicks on at over 100 and cuts out at 85, but you can adjust the cut in temp to what ever you want.
hiya (280GE 1987)
I just fitted 2 12" fans between the grill and the rad this weekend.
I used the pacet zip tie mounts, no problems at all. they are round and slot straight through the fins, no problem.
The core on my rad is solid, but the fins were a bit weak in places, still I had no problem slotting them through and they sit on rubber bushes either side of the rad so they are resting on the fins, but not vibrating directly against them.
I had major trouble getting the fan off the water pump housing, the four 10 mm bolts holding it on were almost impossible to get at. They were well stuck in and I found trying to us the U end of the spanner was stripping the bolt heads, I had to grind down one side of the O end of the spaner to get it to fit over the heads next to the fan spindle. This worked ok for three out of four bolts, but the last one was completely siezed.
I stripped the bolt head completely and ended up using a reciprocating saw to cut the bolt head off, and then used a file to grind down the remaining metal till the fan came off. (took almost 5 hours to get them all free).
I also removed the plastic fan shroud from the back of the rad, which makes the bay look a lot cleaner.
I used a 38mm revotec inline thermostat in the top hose. but I am already struggling to maintain a steady engine temp. Possibly one of the 22mm bolt type sensors would give a more steady steady temp and use the fans less, (this is assuming it will fit in the spare bolt hole to the water jacket over the exhaust manifold.)
I need to tidy up the electrics now, as it doesnt look too pretty with cable strung all over the engine bay, and make sure you fit a manual over ride on he dash, so you can turn on the fans manually if the thermostat fails. I trust the fans, but having 2 instead of one means I should be able to limp home even if one fails. looks good too
Are you planning to wire the fans to an ignition switched 12 volts? or straight to the battery? I have wired it straight to the battery, but the fans run on after I have parked, which may flatten the battery when I am not looking. trying to get to a switched 12V is not as easy as I had hoped, any advice on where to connect to a switched +12V to would be gratefuly received.
Regards
James
Is the cigerette lighter on the ignition circuit, could you not splice into that , my fans come on after I have turned the ignition off and cut off about 1 minute after, doubt it would flatten battery.
Thanks Peter, I will try that, I have got the fuse panel with all the relays attached to it hanging in the footwell, if I cant figure out where the lighter connects, I will run some cable to the back of the lighter and that should do it.
going back to the fan controllers:
Ok, this may be a bad idea, but I am playing devils advocate. and please bear in mind I am using the top hose sensor at the mo.
It occurs to me, using the inline sensor in the top hose, that the fans will always run on more than necessary. In theory there are two water circuits, the engine, and the rad, and they meet at the thermostat.
When the engine is running hot the thermostat is open and hot water floods the top hose turning the fans on.
When the fans do their job and cool the water coming back into the engine, the thermostat closes, leaving hot water in the top hose and keeping the fans running. The fans run on, cooling the rad, but the top hose stays warm as it runs uphill to the rad.
Now when the thermostat re-opens the rad has very cool water in it and this flooding into the block drops the temp quickly causing the fluctuations in temp I have been seeing. it doesnt over heat, but the temp guage will drop quickly once the thermostat re-opens.
Surely a fan controller in the water jacket of the block would give better readings, and allow the thermostat and the rad to give some cooling before the fans kick in.
what do you think?
i see you have a 280, what temp was it running at with the viscous attached, and what temp are we looking at now the leccy ones are on, i,e normal highway temp with good airflow.
to digress briefly
I observed that when I drove the TDI Galaxy in Spain(when new & under warrenty) up a long long long motorway incline, car stuffed to refusal, complete with large roof box and say a tonne of trailer and air con working flat out all in about 40degrees.
the temp needle was only on the high side of normal, but the engine temperature read out was 120 degrees for some considerable time( or perhaps it was 125 ? )
I remember being taken aback at such a high reading.
And wondering what the boiling point of the coolant was at whatever pressure the cooling system is set to
Anyway, anyway
The 290 Van runs at about 85 or 90 degrees, but the last normal white reading on the gauge is 120, ie same as the Galaxy.
So if I were fitting an electric fan with a dial up thermostat same as you are using Ian, what could I screw her up to -- and why?
Cheers
Marcus
PS
Anyone know what the airflow is for the 18" viscous fan as fitted ?
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